


I forgot you existed (thought it would kill me, but it didn't)

by sorryforthedead



Series: now I'm standing alone in a crowded room (and we're not speaking) [2]
Category: The Social Network (2010)
Genre: Emotional Clarity, Fluff, For Eduardo anyways..., Happy Ending, M/M, Moving On, Post Settlement, angst I guess?, reunion of sorts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-10
Updated: 2021-02-10
Packaged: 2021-03-16 23:34:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 891
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29340648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sorryforthedead/pseuds/sorryforthedead
Summary: Sipping his drink, he spots Mark before Mark sees him. He looks like a ghost directly from Eduardo’s memory, still horribly underdressed in the way that used to be endearing, but now seems childish.orEduardo sees Mark across the room at a party, years after the settlement.
Relationships: Eduardo Saverin/Mark Zuckerberg, Eduardo Saverin/Original Male Character(s)
Series: now I'm standing alone in a crowded room (and we're not speaking) [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2151345
Comments: 12
Kudos: 13





	I forgot you existed (thought it would kill me, but it didn't)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [loneandlevelsands](https://archiveofourown.org/users/loneandlevelsands/gifts).



> Told you I'd be back, and here I am, with the alternate perspective of my last fic. This was my friend Chiara's idea, so this one is all for her, she is also at fault for my markuardo brainrot. I love you Chiara, hope you like this!
> 
> The title is from Taylor Swift's I Forgot You Existed, which I do not own, nor do I own The Social Network, its characters or any of the plotlines mentioned.

The party is decadent. It’s not really Eduardo’s scene, he tends to get a little clammy when he has to attend events like this, but he is a professional, a businessman with a high profile career and so he has to go to parties, he has to make connections, be personable. They’re a little better when Max is here, but he has his own business to attend to, and so he’d quickly abandoned Eduardo to speak to one of his clients. He’d be back, Eduardo knew that, and they could spend the rest of the night drinking and dancing, but right now, Eduardo was alone. 

Sipping his drink, he spots Mark before Mark sees him. He looks like a ghost directly from Eduardo’s memory, still horribly underdressed in the way that used to be endearing, but now seems childish. When he’d been barely in his twenties, just getting used to the overwhelming fame and fortune that seemed imminent, it made him seem like he was down to earth, connected to his roots. Eduardo had liked that, he liked the idea that Mark hadn’t changed, that he had stayed the same when everything else was shifting. It had been a lie though, a mirage hiding Eduardo from the real truth, and now, when Mark was a billionaire, when all eyes had been trained on him for  _ years _ , it looked unprofessional, and honestly, just fake. In a way, it feels right. What had once been real about Mark, things Eduardo had loved, became twisted, manipulated, completely distorted until it was completely unrecognizable. 

It had  _ hurt _ , but staring at Mark now, Eduardo doesn’t feel pain. He doesn’t feel much of anything if he’s being honest, just indifference. It’s been so long, Eduardo rarely thinks about him anymore. The anger, the sadness, it had faded as he had grown, as he found his own success and his own identity, and if he’s being honest, Max. It had helped to come into his own, find real love that was reciprocated without the betrayal and suffering he’d become to connect with love after Mark. But now, he’s moved on from that. Love was without the pain, without the lack of communication, answers, and words in general. And that’s why all Eduardo feels when he looks at Mark is a dull ache, somewhere between a guilty sense of pride in moving on, in doing the best he possibly could, and the weak remnants of all that he’d felt oh so many years ago. It intrigued Eduardo really. In the months after his shares were diluted, after the settlement, he wasn’t sure he’d ever recover. It had felt like his world was crashing down, that nothing would be the same and he would never be able to live without pain again. But he did it. He made it through, and him standing here at this party, feeling nothing when looking at Mark Zuckerberg just proves how far he’s come.

Eduardo tears his eyes away from Mark, peering around the room, not eager to get caught looking at him. The idea of making casual conversation with Mark after such a revelation made his skin crawl. Mark wasn’t important to him anymore, Eduardo had no desire to break that ice, no desire to speak to him. That was in the past, something Eduardo had locked up and then thrown away the key. Mark didn’t have the ability to pick the lock, and Eduardo wasn’t willing to give him it. Sick irony to that almost, as there was a time that Eduardo would’ve given him anything. 

He’s lucky, because as he turns his head, Max is approaching him, clutching a new drink and smiling radiantly at him. Eduardo can’t help but smile right back, that toothy grin elicited a happy feeling in him that he just couldn’t deny. “Max,” Eduardo says, reaching for his boyfriend’s free hand, pulling him in close, tired of being away from him, tired of living in the past when his whole future was right here.

“Wardo,” Max responds, his tone washed with humour, like he doesn’t know why Eduardo’s addressing him by name.

Either way, Eduardo loves the way he says his name. No one’s ever said it quite like he does. It put a new wonderful spin on a nickname that had always reminded him of Mark. Just another step in moving on. 

Letting go of Max’s hand, Eduardo fiddles with his boyfriend’s tie, pressing a soft kiss to his cheek. “I missed you,” he says, and honestly, he had, not just because of Mark.

Max laughs. “Someone’s affectionate tonight.”   
  
Eduardo just smiles wider, wrapping his arm around Max’s waist and turning his gaze back to where Mark was. He’d disappeared. 

Eduardo can’t say he’s not glad.

“What are you looking at?” Max asks, following Eduardo’s pointed glance.

Shaking his head, Eduardo turns his attention back to Max. “Nothing important,” he says.

He means it. 

Mark hasn’t been important to him in years, and he never will be again. Eduardo thinks that’s a victory. He may have lost Facebook, he may have lost what he once thought was the most important person in his life, but since, he’s gained everything. He has what he wants, what he needs, and he’s not going to take that for granted by spending even one moment longer thinking about Mark. 

**Author's Note:**

> As always, kudos and comments are greatly appreciated, and keep an eye out because I might have a few more fics coming!


End file.
